Signatures are being collected for a letter addressed to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Internal Affairs and National Security asking for the withdrawal of the announced deportation of a number of African migrants, most of whom had to an important extent integrated in Maltese society.
The letter explains that the people designated for deportation have become members of and contributors to our communities. Deportation will therefore have negative ethical, social and economic effects not only on the deportees, but on Maltese society as a whole.
If you agree with the request please send an email to colin.calleja@um.edu.mt with your name and ID number. Organisations are also being asked to support this appeal.
The text of the letter reads as follows:
We request that the Prime Minister
of Malta Hon Dr. Joseph Muscat and the Minister of Home Affairs and National
Security Hon. Carmelo Abela withdraw the
announced deportation of a number of African migrants, most of whom had to an
important extent integrated in Maltese society. The people designated for
deportation have become members of and contributors to our communities. Deportation
will therefore have negative ethical, social and economic effects not only on
the deportees, but on Maltese society as a whole.
We believe
that a society that holds strong to democratic principles and inclusive ideals
should never consider the deportation of people on the sole basis of legal
irregularities. Not holding a permanent permit to reside in Malta did not
prevent the people in question from contributing to our society and to establish
relationships. To tear them out from the local communities to which they now belong
is a violent assault on Maltese society.
The Maltese
Government’s claim that a small
country like Malta needs urgent help to survive the wave of immigration does
not contradict potential efforts of the Maltese Government to offer hospitality
to migrants who are already living in Maltese territory. Indeed, doing our best to host and
protect people whose human rights are in peril gives credibility to Malta within the EU
institutions. In contrast, deporting these individuals will inflict a loss of
credibility on both the people and government of Malta.
As
concerned people who have at heart both the wellbeing of any human individual
and that of Maltese society, we urge the Maltese government to renounce the
decision to deport these individuals. We are willing to collaborate with the
Maltese authorities in finding more creative and inclusive solutions through
which both the migrants and Maltese society will benefit.
If you agree with the request please send an email to colin.calleja@um.edu.mt with your name and ID number. Organisations are also being asked to support this appeal.
If you agree with the request please send an email to colin.calleja@um.edu.mt with your name and ID number. Organisations are also being asked to support this appeal.
